Total Drama Pizza Party Chapter 3: Sounds Like Someone Needs A Cinnamon Bun, a total drama series fanfic

"Last time, on Total Drama Pizza Party!" Chef began. "We sent our twenty new recruits on a scavenger hunt throughout the park section of the Fantastic Feast Faire! They split up into groups n' scoured the whole area! They didn't know what the Pizza Slices they was lookin' for even did, but they knew they wanted 'em."

"Some people, like Peter and Aoi, chose to go it alone," Chris continued. "Others, like Ichabod and Sawyer, used the opportunity to form alliances before the teams were even formed!"

"Unsurprisn'ly, a lot of 'em just ended up gettin' on each other's nerves a whole lot," Chef chuckled. "Brynleigh, Lazarus, n' Jacqueline all stand out in that regard. Hey, we cast 'em for a reason."

"That we did, Chef, that we did," Chris nodded. "After all eight Pizza Slices were claimed, those who found one each got to pick one person who didn't. Thus forming the eight pairs that will be playing the rest of the game! Which left four losers in the dust. Hehaha."

"For the most part, the pairs ended up just bein' people who searched together already," Chef continued. "But nobody from the group of Alex, Toby, Jacqueline, Flick, or Kiko found a slice! Faced with a choice of who to save, Lazarus went with Alex, sendin' the other four home as four-way last-placers."

"Brutal!" Chris laughed.

"That's what happens when ya ain't Total Drama material!" Chef insisted. "Nobody's goin' home tonight, but that don't mean this round won't be important. What do I mean? Stay right there! It's Total! Drama! Pizza Party!"

After the departure of the four losers, the contestants broke off into smaller groups to discuss before heading to bed. Alex sat on the edge of the fountain, speaking up as Lazarus set off.

"Hey," she told him. "...Thanks for saving me."

"Huh?" Lazarus stopped and turned around. "I mean, hey, I got the most positive vibes from you, man. How could I not?"

"Well, I don't know if you realized how much the stress got to you, but you weren't exactly the king of positive vibes during the challenge today," Alex mentioned.

Lazarus sighed. "I mean, look. I'm clearly not the harmless hippy-dippy type I play myself up to be. Sure, I fuck with the music and the fashion, but peace and love is a... let's say innocent position to push. Not something people our age should actually believe in."

"Toby believed in it," Alex frowned. "So did Flick. Kiko just wanted everyone to have fun. Jacqueline... well, I think she believed she was doing the right thing. Somehow."

"And they're not here, are they?" Lazarus countered. "Meanwhile, I am. I'm also well aware that people are going to have their eyes on me after how hard I fought to get that last Pizza Slice. That's why I'm gonna keep up the hippie act, and why you're going to keep being your charming little self. Lie low. Make people not want to target us. Let them focus on tearing each other apart while we slide on to the end. Can you dig it?"

"I'm happy to make friends with the others, but I won't let you be so dismissive of the friends I've already made just because they're not here," Alex scolded, folding her arms. "That kind of attitude won't lend itself to others trusting you. People catch onto these things, believe me. There's so much behind-the-scenes he-said-she-said even in the world of producing silly little sitcoms. I know more about these things than you might think."

"Whatever you say, maaaaaan," Lazarus chuckled. "At any rate, I'll wait for the tensions to die down before I go cozying up to the others. You can go make friends if you want, I don't really care."

"I'm so glad I have your permission," Alex winced.

"Did I hear someone wants to make friends?!" Sunshine gasped, popping up from behind the fountain.

"As a matter of fact, Alex is feeling a little down after all those people went home," Lazarus smirked.

"Oh my gosh, me too! That's, like, twenty percent less people to shower with love!" Sunshine commiserated, taking a seat uncomfortably close to Alex. "You got to know them, right? Tell me all about them! What's Jacqueline's favorite movie?! How does Toby feel about people who keep tarantulas as pets?! What does Kiko taste like: portobellos or shiitakes?! Has Flick ever met Harry Potter?!"
As Sunshine barraged her with questions, Alex noticed Lazarus take his leave with a satisfied smile and a patronizing wave. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Alex: "Well, this isn't quite how I expected my Total Drama journey to start, but then, I guess that's sort of the point, huh? Lazarus seems... self-assured, we'll say. Getting on the same wavelength as him is going to take some getting used to. But I welcome the challenge. I'll have to if I want to get anywhere in this game." She let out a deep breath.

Lazarus: "It's plain to see that I'm not exactly in the best position at the moment. That's a big part of why I chose Alex specifically. She's clearly got people skills, so no matter how hard I play, I trust she'll be able to help smooth things over. And hey, she doesn't exactly strike me as someone who's willing to hurt feelings to get ahead, so call it a symbiotic partnership."

The next morning, Ichabod, Charlie, Pavel, and Dede snuck off to a secluded section of the park shortly after it opened to the public.

"I must open with an apology. I did not factor the possibility that the game would take such a turn that we'd be playing as pairs," Ichabod began.

"Hey, no sweat daddy-o. Who could have guessed that?" Dede assured him.

"Anyone sufficiently prepared. I'm ashamed to say that that person was not myself," Ichabod said sternly. "However, I will do my utmost to see us succeed regardless of this."

"They said pairs vote together and get eliminated together, right?" Pavel mentioned, scratching his head. "That should make it easier for us, right?"

"That's assuming votes work traditionally," Charlie debated. "Which I don't think we can take for granted anymore."

"You callin' me stupid?" Pavel grunted.

"No?" Charlie reacted, tilting his head. "What did I say that would cause you to think so?"

"Oh, so you're gaslightin' me too, huh? Is that it?!" Pavel punched into the palm of his hand.

"Quiet, the both of you," Ichabod commanded. "Charlie raises a good point: one I also had not considered. I apologize."

Pavel sighed and rubbed his arm, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry, too."

"I forgive you," Charlie smiled.

"If votes work traditionally, then we make up three of the eight pairs," Ichabod recounted. "That is not a majority. Including other pairs in the alliance should be our top priority."

"Not for nothing, but shouldn't we have Sunshine and Brynleigh in on this meeting, too?" Dede pointed out. "They're partners with me and Pavel, after all. Also I thought we weren't assuming the votes worked traditionally."

"I still don't fully trust those two," Ichabod admitted. "This is something I will aim to rectify sooner rather than later, but I wish to reinforce that I hold the utmost faith in the three of you before we expand our horizons any further."

"I don't know how they'd feel being fifth and sixth wheels," Dede hummed.

"Sunshine would probably be elated that there are five other wheels to begin with," Charlie laughed. "Brynleigh... Hey Pavel, why did you pick Brynleigh as your partner?"

"Because through working together past hardships, both of us will emerge stronger for it!" Pavel declared proudly. "She's absolutely toxic, but you know how to gain a resistance to poison? By taking it in small doses! It's an exercise in teaching myself patience, and maybe teaching her how to handle her own anger. It's both self-improvement, and helping someone else improve!"

"That is so sweet, what the heck!" Dede gushed.

"See to it that you do get a grip on Brynleigh," Ichabod nodded. "The last thing I want is for someone of her rude and stubborn disposition to get in our way simply because she doesn't like being told what to do."

"If that's the case, you don't tell her what to do. Just make her want to do it," Charlie suggested.

"Are you tellin' me what to do by sayin' not to tell others what to do?" Pavel's eyebrow twitched.

"Huh, I guess I am," Charlie realized. "Funny."

Pavel: "I trust Ichabod and Dede with my life in this game, but I dunno. Somethin' about Charlie's smug, self-satisfied calmness kinda pisses me off! Like he just knows he's so much smarter and better than everyone else! Even Mr. Perfect Ichabod apologizes when he feels like he's done something wrong!" He took a breath. "But I won't let my anger get the better of me. That ain't me anymore."

Dede: "Nobody will admit it, but our alliance is kind of a mess. Ichabod, bless his heart, he's doing his best, but I think he was so focused on the initial alliance of four, he's having trouble adapting to the whole 'pairs' shindig. But hey, we're a groovy gang, and I certainly won't say no to spending time with three hot guys on any day of the week! I'll make it work." She giggled.

Panic and Jenna sat on a bench near a few food trucks.

"So, what's the plan?" Jenna asked Panic. "I imagine you probably know more about this stuff than I do."

"Well, the first rule of any successful revolution is to gather your fellow comrades," Panic explained. "You need allies to secure things, so obviously our first course of action is to find an ally. I feel like that's pretty basic."

"I mean yeah, I'm not stupid," Jenna rolled her eyes. "Obviously we gotta find an ally, I mean who were you thinking?"

"Oh," Panic said. "Well you should've said so, I figured you knew nothing about anything having to do with the game!"

Nearby the two saw Peter walking aimlessly around, looking everywhere around him.

"What about him?" Jenna asked, pointing at Peter.

"He seems a little less terrible than most of the others," Panic shrugged. "May as well try."

Panic and Jenna got up and approached Peter, who glanced at them approaching him and sighed.

"Yeah, what's up," Peter said flatly.

"You thought about the game much?" Panic asked. "Or talked about it with anyone yet?"

"I haven't even talked about it with my own partner yet," Peter responded.

"Really?" Jenna looked at Peter. "You and Aoi haven't talked about what you guys wanna do yet?"

"Well we should've, but I haven't seen Aoi since I woke up," Peter sighed. "Dude's just gone."

"Strange," Jenna said.

"Guess you might be regretting your pick then," Panic stifled a chuckle.

"We'll see," Peter replied.

…

"Anyway… have you given any thought to who you wanna work with?" Panic asked.

"Is this just leading to you asking if I wanna work with you guys or something?" Peter said.

"Yes," Jenna stated. Panic looked at Jenna, surprised.

Panic sighed. "Yeah, it is."

"Then yeah I guess," Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find my partner."

Peter then dismissed himself and walked off into the crowd, heading towards the other side of the fair.

"I can't tell if that went well or not," Jenna said. "Are we sure we wanna bother with him?"

"An ally is an ally, right?" Panic replied. "As much as some of these people make me sick, we have to get someone."

"Guess so," Jenna said. "I also can respect his bluntness, shows he's not really gonna bullshit us at least."

"Authenticity, that's the most important trait to have," Panic smiled slightly.

Panic: "Peter seems completely uninterested in anything around him which I don't really like. However, with only eight pairs we need to get someone on our side, and fast. Peter already agreed to work with us, so I consider that a win in my book."

Jenna: "To me, it makes more sense to work with people who we actually can get along with and rely on. Peter seems a little reliable I guess, but his partner? I don't think anyone's even seen the guy today. Who knows what kind of stuff he's scheming?"

Meanwhile, Aoi was standing at a carnival game. Baseball in hand, he threw it and it hit the last bottle on the table.

"And we have a winner!" The employee at the game said.

"Excellent," Aoi smiled slightly.

"You get to pick any of the prizes from the top row!" The employee gestured to various electronics and toys.

"I want the bear," Aoi replied.

"Sure thing!" The employee grabbed a full sized pink bear from the top row and handed it off to Aoi.

"Thank you," Aoi said, walking off with the comically large stuffed animal.

A few seconds later, Veronica approached the game.

"Felicitations, good workhorse!" she greeted jovially. "Am I to understand that you oversee an activity in which one's hand-eye coordination can be rewarded with inexpensive yet large prizes?"

"I..." The employee blinked. "It's like bowling: you get multiple chances to knock over the bottles, and the more points you get, the better prizes you can earn!"

"Splendid! This will be the perfect way to track my newly-obtained working-class skills! Ohhhohohoho!" Veronica laughed. "Pray tell, how many tries does one hundred dollars allow me? Those are the smallest bills I have on me."

"Well, we take tickets as our local currency here," the employee explained. "You can buy them at the kiosks scattered around the park, although I don't know if they accept hundred-dollar bills."

"Ah! Whyever not?" Veronica pouted. "Legal tender is legal tender, no? Such refusal of my good money ought to be illegal!"

Veronica: "Calm down, Veronica. This sounds like one of those 'problems' I keep hearing about. It may be frustrating, but I'll have to... think of a way to 'solve' it. Such is the way of the world! Oh, I'm becoming so cultured already! What fun!"

Meanwhile, Remi ran across Aoi, still carrying his giant stuffed animal.

"Oh, Aoi!" Remi greeted. "Have you seen Veronica around?"

"I have not," Aoi denied.

"Aw, dang," Remi frowned. "No worries, man! By the way, what's with the giant bear?"

"I won it by tossing a baseball at some milk bottles," Aoi informed.

"Right on, right on," Remi nodded. "What's his name?"

"I don't know. I haven't asked," Aoi stated.

"Ahhhhh," Remi realized. He leaned closer to the bear. "What's up, dude? I'm Remi! What's your name?"

The bear did not respond.

"He is shy," Aoi explained.

"Gotcha. I'll respect your boundaries, dude," Remi apologized to the bear. "Well, I still need to find my partner! Take it easy, you two!"

"I will," Aoi said.

Remi: "This is so exciting! It's Total Drama, I've got my team, and we avoided the first elimination! Now we just need to decide what to do next. Usually in the early parts of Total Drama, the people who end up annoying or upsetting the other players get voted off. So Veronica and I should be fine for now, but it might help if we're playing the same beat, you feel me?"

Later that day, Sawyer paced in place while Orson sat at a table in the food court eating a burrito. Brynleigh walked up to the pair and smirked.

"What's wrong? Trying to figure out how you're gonna get home once I kick you out of the game?" Brynleigh taunted.

"No, we're just strategizing," Orson said between bites of his burrito.

"If you must know," Sawyer rolled her eyes. "We're crunching the numbers on our first big move, in case you didn't know, time is money. If you… want to be in on that big move, we can take pity on you and include you since I'm sure you are lacking any real alliance."

"Yeah, you sound really convincing!" Brynleigh scoffed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have no plan at all!"

"Well think again, little girl," Sawyer's eyes narrowed. "I always have a plan, and I plan on executing. With perfect accuracy. Something you surely wouldn't have the first concept of doing."

"Don't worry, I also have a plan!" Brynleigh smiled. "A plan to get rid of you two LOSERS as fast as possible! All I gotta do is win a challenge and bam! Gone! Haha! Losers!"

Brynleigh raised her fingers in the shape of an L on her forehead. Orson frowned.

"Hey, that's not very nice," Orson whined, setting his burrito down. "Take it back, man."

"Nah, I don't think I will!" Brynleigh laughed.

Sawyer walked up to Brynleigh and poked her nose with her finger.

"Alright, listen up pipsqueak, you're gonna work with us and you're gonna like it, capiche?" Sawyer ordered sternly.

Brynleigh covered her mouth as she began cackling at Sawyer's threat.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Brynleigh said between chuckles. "It seems like you're really desperate for allies, huh? Scared you can't get any because you're unlikable and pathetic?"

Sawyer began to say something but was interrupted by Orson. "Yes," Orson hung his head in shame.

"Tell ya what," Brynleigh smugly smiled. "I'll think about your little proposal and maybe if I feel like I can bail you guys out of being easy boots, capiche?"

Brynleigh stuck out her tongue as Sawyer and laughed as she walked away. Sawyer looked at Orson, angrily.

"What the hell?" Sawyer questioned. "I thought you'd back me up there! What's with this 'showing weakness to the enemy' thing?"

"Oh, sorry," Orson replied. "I just figured maybe she'd respect honesty or something. My mistake."

"Yeah, it is," Sawyer sighed.

Brynleigh: "Man, it sounds like they're already floundering! Getting rid of them is gonna be easier than I thought! God, I love being so fuckin' cool and good at everything!" Brynleigh leaned back in the confessional and crossed her arms, smiling smugly.

Sawyer: "Well that was a massive blunder on Orson's part! Showing weakness to the enemy is mistake number one! In the cutthroat world of business, showing your neck will make the weak bottom feeders pounce on you! Always maintain composure! Come on, this is negotiation 101!"

Continuing his search through the park, Remi eventually happened upon Veronica, admiring something.

"Hey! Fellow Remi!" Remi called.

No response. He sighed.

"Veronica!"

"Oh! My dear Remi, is that you?" Veronica answered.

The two met in the middle.

"Been looking for you all morning. Where've you been?" Remi asked.

"Oh, just making a real woman of myself," Veronica boasted.

"You're doing what?" Remi asked, confused.

"Behold! The fruits of my labor!" Veronica showcased the thing she'd been looking at: a tiny plastic toy dinosaur.

"Oh, sweet!" Remi beamed.

"I toiled for hours at one of these quaint little park games in order to improve my capabilities," Veronica said proudly. "And this prize is proof that I can indeed put my money where my mouth is! Er, so to speak."

"Right on," Remi nodded. "That aside, we should talk about the game."

"Oh, the game was a simple affair, really," Veronica said. "One must merely throw one of those baseballs at a stack of bottles. I'll admit, in my sheltered time on this earth, I've little experience with such things, so it took me some time to get the hang of. But oh, did it ever pay off!"

"That's cool, but I meant we should talk about Total Drama," Remi chuckled.

"I don't feel like you truly grasp the importance of what I'm saying," Veronica huffed. "This is a big step for me! The Veronica of days past could never dream of owning this fake lizard! And now, here I am, winning carnival games like some sort of yokel! Oh, if my parents could only see me now..."

"Oh! Morning, you two!" Alex greeted as she approached. "How are you doing?"

"Positively rapturous, darling," Veronica claimed. "Ohhhhohohoho!"

"Doing alright. What about you?" Remi returned.

"I'm doing alright myself," Alex admitted. "Still kind of reeling from the quadruple elimination, but hey, I'm still here, and that's what matters."

"That's what I like to hear!" Remi agreed. "It's Total Drama, baby! Anything can happen!"

"Oh? Are you a big fan of the show?" Alex asked.

"I've seen a few seasons," Remi played off.

"Awww, you can't fool me," Alex winked. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"It's not that I'm embarrassed, I just don't want people to think I'm a threat," Remi laughed.

"Alex! Feast your eyes upon this!" Veronica commanded, showing off the toy dinosaur.

Alex feasted her eyes, unsure of how to respond. "That's... really cool, Veronica."

"Isn't it? Oh, I shall have to find a suitable display for it once I get home," Veronica gazed at the toy as if it were a precious jewel.

"So hey, I don't know if Laz still hates me and my co-Remi, but if you want to work together, hey, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," Remi offered Alex.

"I think he realizes what position he's in after last night," Alex admitted. "I can't promise he'll play nice, but I'd love to work with you two, personally."

Remi grabbed Alex's hand and shook it. "Yes, ma'am!"

Remi: "Alright, first real alliance! We're past rehearsal, so now it's time to start the setlist off with a crowd-pleaser!" He plays air drums. "I'm glad I've got Veronica as my partner, 'cuz she's still cool, but with Alex in a different pair, I think we can talk some real game and get some real results! It all works out."

Alex: "I wasn't looking for anyone in particular when I went out this morning, but Remi is someone I felt I could get along with, so I'm glad I ran into him and Veronica. He's got a positive energy, and he seems like he knows the game, too, so I think he'll make for a great ally. He said he feels like Lazarus hated him and Veronica, which might be concerning. I'll talk it over with Laz later."

Meanwhile, at a secluded section of the parkgrounds, Lazarus gathered Panic and Sawyer.

"Hello there," Lazarus greeted. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've brought you two here."

"Probably something stupid, I'm sure," Panic crossed their arms.

"Typical of someone of your ilk," Sawyer raised an eyebrow at Panic. "Immediately dismissing every opportunity given to you."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Panic asked.

"Guys, guys," Lazarus tried calming the two down. "I called you here to propose an alliance between the three of us."

"The three of us?" Panic recoiled.

"Yeah!" Lazarus continued. "Clearly the three of us are tough and ruthless and willing to hurt people's feelings to go ahead! You two are a couple of tough bitches, clearly."

"Ew," Panic winced. "You're not seriously comparing me to that corporate cog right?! She's everything that's wrong with society at large! I cannot believe you're seriously trying to act like I'm anything like her!"

"Oh, please," Sawyer unwrapped a lollipop from her jacket pocket and stuck it in her mouth. "You wish you were half the person I am. I make more in a week than you will in your entire life, especially if you keep up this stupid grassroots punk revolution shit."

"Not everything has to be about money, you greedy pig!" Panic exclaimed.

Sawyer laughed heartily as Panic continued yelling at her. Lazarus rubbed his temples in irritation before sighing loudly to get their attention.

"Okay, look," Lazarus said, exasperated. "You two are starting to really piss me off. But I asked you two specifically because you seem smart enough to see the value in an alliance between the three of us. I guess I could be wrong, considering you guys immediately derailed this shit but a triumvirate of us leading the game would prove quite useful, no?"

"Big words for the supposed 'peace and love hippie', eh?" Sawyer smirked.

"Do you want an ally or not?" Lazarus groaned.

"I suppose so," Sawyer said. "I'll take you up on your offer and work with both of you, as long as the kid over there promises to play nice and stop living in fantasy land."

"It's not fantasy land, throughout history change is clearly able to be gained through community movements!" Panic balled their fists.

"Look, I don't really give a shit about either of your causes truthfully," Lazarus said. "Do we have a deal?"

"I guess," Panic huffed as they crossed their arms.

"Already said yes, don't make me regret it," Sawyer said.

"Alright, great," Lazarus sighed, relieved. "Go ahead and pass the message onto your dumbshit useless partners and I'll do the same to mine. We're running this show starting from now. Peace."

Lazarus threw up a peace sign as he walked off. Panic and Sawyer looked at him, and then each other.

"What an asshole," Panic shook their head.

"Finally, something we can actually agree on," Sawyer concurred.

Lazarus: "Look, it really is just that simple folks. No time to mince words, just get straight to the damn point. That's what people respect in this game! As long as we have a strong alliance, who cares how we act!"

Panic: "I really don't like that guy. His fake 'feel good' persona is just a ruse and behind it another fraud! Is him approaching me for an alliance good for me and Jenna? Sure, but I don't plan on keeping with that promise for long. Especially since it involved that stiff suit Sawyer!"

Sawyer: "If this alliance pans out then I'm already safe for the time being, since I'd have these two pairs and Brynleigh and Pavel on my side. Do I trust any of these goons? Not even a little bit, especially not that rat Lazarus. However, to forward my personal game, I may as well order them around, give them some direction."

In a high traffic area of the park, Orson sat on a bench, watching the bustling crowd traversing the park. As he sat there, Sunshine and Dede walked by and waved at him. Orson smiled faintly and waved back. The two then approached.

"Hey there, Orson!" Dede grinned as she approached. "What'cha up to?"

"Oh, y'know, not much," Orson replied. "Just watching the crowds walk around, it's quite calming in a way."

"Oh that's cool, being able to just observe is nice sometimes!" Dede agreed. "So, have you begun–"

Suddenly Sunshine sat down directly next to Orson. Orson raised an eyebrow.

"Hey there buddy!" Sunshine's eyes went wide as she got a little too close to him. "How are you feeling? Are you enjoying your time here yet?!"

"I-uh, I'm feeling good," Orson said, scooting back on the bench a bit. "I suppose so far you could say I'm enjoying–"

"Awesome!" Sunshine slid closer to Orson on the bench. "I'm having a lot of fun with all my new friends too! So do you have any hobbies? Do you enjoy watching TV? What are your favorite TV shows?"

"Um, I enjoy collecting things, I think I mentioned that before…" Orson trailed off a bit before sliding even further back to the edge of the bench. "TV is nice, I mostly just watch what's on though. I have no real preferences."

"Aw come on, surely you have some preferences for your favorites, right?" Sunshine got extremely close to Orson.

"Sunshine, I don't know if this is–" Dede began.

"No, it's okay," Orson said, standing up from the bench to distance himself. "I mean, I enjoy those like, true crime shows. That's probably not a very exciting answer though… Sorry, I'm getting kind of overwhelmed right now… I'm not used to talking about myself much."

Sunshine: "Nobody asks Orson about who he is? Well that simply won't do! I wanna make sure that he knows that he feels cared for and loved! I will make sure he knows that! What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there for my buddies?" She paused. "A not good one, that's what!"

Sunshine got up from the bench and got very close to Orson, drawing him into a hug.

"It's okay, Orson," Sunshine said, patting him on the back. "Just know that when you want to talk, I'll be here for you! Always! Okay?"

Sunshine released him from the hug and smiled. Orson gave her an awkward smile back.

"Uh, that's nice of you, thank you," Orson said, readjusting his sweater vest. "I appreciate it, Sunshine. I probably ought to go now though. It's been… nice."

Orson then quickly walked away into the crowd of people. Sunshine waved feverishly.

"Well, I don't know if that went very well," Dede frowned.

"What? That went great!" Sunshine laughed. "I think we've made ourselves a close friend right there. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Groovy…" Dede trailed off, looking off to where Orson walked away.

Dede: "Sunshine just totally made Orson uncomfortable there!" Dede slapped her forehead. "Trust me, I know from years of trying to find love that that type of thing doesn't get you anywhere! I feel like this is gonna be harder than I thought if I don't be honest with Sunshine about how she's making the people feel… but how could I tell her? I don't wanna wipe that cute smile off her face!" She sighed.

Meanwhile, Pavel walked up to Ichabod, who stood near a pay phone that appeared to be in disrepair.

"Apologies for asking you to accompany me on such short notice," Ichabod said to Pavel. "Charlie said that he felt it was best that I attempt to reason with Brynleigh. Something tells me he wished to just burden me with talking to her so he didn't have to."

"Sure, no problem pal!" Pavel slapped Ichabod on the back. "Besides, she's my partner, I may as well help ya with reasonin' with her."

"I… do appreciate that," Ichabod replied. "I believe that having a more reasonable individual there will lead to a generally more productive conversation than if I decided to try to reason with her myself."

Ichabod and Pavel then walked off to find Brynleigh. After a short time, they found her sitting in the food court with a large pile of candy in front of her.

"Sup, nerds!" Brynleigh laughed as she ate the candy in front of her. "Bet you wish you had this much candy, don't you?"

Ichabod shook his head sternly. Pavel and Ichabod sat down at the table across from Brynleigh.

"So," Ichabod began. "Pavel and I are here today to discuss certain strategies with you that would behoove you to listen to."

"Erm, English please?" Brynleigh rolled her eyes.

"This is precisely where my apprehension was coming from," Ichabod muttered to Pavel.

"Alright, Bryn," Pavel sat up in his seat. "We're proposing an alliance here. It was one I already had before all this pair shit, but now that you're my partner, you're in too. Alright?"

"Oh yeah?" Brynleigh raised an eyebrow. "Given Icky Bod is in it I doubt it's really all that great of an alliance! Hahaha!"

Brynleigh kicked her feet as she laughed. Pavel slammed his hand on the table.

"Better than anything you could come up with, I bet!" Pavel hissed. "You don't even know who's in the alliance in the first damn place!"

"Okay then, enlighten me," Brynleigh said, resting her head on her hands. "Who's in it?"

"Well…" Pavel rubbed the back of his head. "It's us, Charlie, Dede, and her partner Sunshine."

"Pfft, I was right!" Brynleigh giggled at Pavel. "Sounds like a bunch of idiots to me!"

"Charlie and Pavel are quite capable and intelligent," Ichabod replied gruffly. "Infinitely more capable than an obstreperous churl like yourself."

"I don't even know what that means," Bryneigh said, irritatedly. "But I'm gonna assume you just insulted me in nerd speak!"

"Having an expansive vocabulary is not a negative quality," Ichabod crossed his arms.

"Whatever," Brynleigh laughed as she hopped off her chair. "Good talk, Pav! Sounds like you got yourself your own little bunch of nerds! Whatever keeps us safe, I don't really give a fuck! Just don't fuck it up!"

Brynleigh walked off, leaving Ichabod and Pavel sitting at the table in front of the large plate of candy.

"Coulda gone worse," Pavel shrugged. Ichabod looked wide eyed at Pavel.

Ichabod: "Worse?!" Ichabod shook his head. "That was an unmitigated disaster! Such an insubordinate troglodyte attached to the bottom of our alliance like a barnacle… this is simply unacceptable. Pavel made a mistake in his choice of partner. It makes our alliance substantially harder to control. He should've thought of this."

Pavel: "Alright… I get it, I get it. Is she inconsiderate, loud, foul-mouthed, and seemingly terrible at everything? Yeah. That's about the gist of it. I just wanted someone who would help to push me to be better, and someone I could help be better too! It's done, and we gotta work with it! Ichabod's gotta loosen up a little bit and adapt!"

Back at the rest area, Jenna, Peter, and Charlie chatted while playing cards.

"Maybe it's just because I've never seen these kinds of shows, but how come everyone feels the need to go off as far away from here as possible to talk about the game?" Jenna asked. "I swear, Panic dragged me like a five-minute walk into the park just so we could talk about who we wanted to work with."

"Couldn't tell you," Peter droned. "And it's stupid, because I have not seen Aoi all morning. Does he expect me to just happen across him in the big amusement park? Because I tried. Tch."

"That guy strikes me as someone who marches to the beat of his own drum," Charlie noted. "If you want to understand him, perhaps you should figure out his beat."

"I shouldn't have to understand him, he should just stop being difficult," Peter claimed.

"Well, it's none of my business anyway," Charlie figured.

"Correct," Peter leered.

"Eh, I don't really understand my partner that much either. I'll figure it out eventually," Jenna said. "I didn't make it this far without figuring out how to tell people what they want to hear, at the very least. Know what I'm saying?"

"You found a piece of plastic. Congratulations, we're all in awe of your skill," Peter snarked.

"Is that how people usually talk to their allies?" Jenna challenged.

"Allies?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'm working with Jenna and Panic now," Peter explained. "We haven't really talked through what that entails. We'll figure it out when it matters. How hard could it be?"

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with that," Charlie smiled.

"Thanks bro, you too," Jenna smirked.

Just then, Aoi entered the room, giant stuffed bear in tow.

"Ah, Jenna," Aoi acknowledged. "Surely you must know my new friend's name."

"Huh?" Jenna blinked.

Aoi placed the bear on top of the table where everyone had been playing cards. "I won him in one of the carnival games. What is his name?"

"I... I feel like that's for you to decide, not me," Jenna told him.

"Hm. I thought someone who worked here would know," Aoi said solemnly. "Maybe I'll find the answer... someday..."

Aoi left the room.

"Uh, hey! Your partner here!" Peter called. He stood up and followed Aoi. "You can't just ditch me all morning without a word and expect me to be okay with that!"

"He just left the bear on top of all our cards," Jenna commented.

The PA system rang. "Attention, Total Drama Pizza Party!" Chef announced. "Meet up at The Breakfast Nook! It's time ta start the first challenge!"

"Guess we'll worry about the cards later," Charlie laughed. "Help me stand up?"

Jenna helped pull Charlie to his feet long enough for him to take his cane.

Charlie: "It's truly fascinating seeing these people with little to no knowledge of the game speak so openly about their alliances. And such an unsteady alliance, at that. I don't predict they'll be much of an obstacle for my own alliance. Not that I'd ever dream of getting complacent. Heh, not again..."

Peter: "God, I really don't want to call myself the smartest person in the room, because that sounds so pretentious. But you see what I have to deal with, right? I guess this is what I signed up for. I'll just have to tough it out until I get that million."

As instructed, the sixteen contestants met the hosts at The Breakfast Nook, a subsection of the Fantastic Feast Faire unto its own. Branching off of the southwest section of the park, the area boasted numerous breakfast-only establishments and cozy diners - all open until well into the evening, of course. The central hub sported decorations resembling eggs, bacon, pancakes, oranges, etc., as well as outdoor eating arrangements. In the very center was a statue of Burger Boy in a bathrobe with a cup of coffee. Since the Faire was open, a handful of patrons attended the area.

"Look at this place, glorifying the simple act of eating in the morning as some sort of blessing that only our gross commercialized consumerism can provide," Panic scoffed.

"Aww, sounds like someone needs a cinnamon bun!" Sunshine teased. "I'll buy you one later."

"Money cannot buy happiness. Don't feed into their lies," Panic snarled.

"You're only saying that because you haven't had a cinnamon bun," Sunshine giggled.

"Contestants!" Chef shouted, demanding their attention. "Welcome ta the Breakfast Nook! Where ya don't hafta mourn the mornin'! Heh heh heh."

Several contestants groaned audibly.

"Screw y'all, I thought it was funny!" Chef grunted.

"It's all in the delivery," Chris advised. "Don't worry, you'll definitely land next time."

Chef glared at Chris before returning attention to the players. "It's time for y'all's first challenge as pairs! If I can turn y'all's attention... ta THIS!"

Chef gestured to a cordoned-off area which had several giant breakfast food items laid out in a path of some sort.

"Today's challenge is a simple obstacle course," Chef explained. "Pairs'll take turns runnin' the course ta try n' get the best time! On go, ya run through the field o' bagels, climb tha bacon rope up tha ramp o' buttered toast, swing across tha sausage-link monkeybars, run through the mudpit o' grits, ascend the wall o' waffle, bounce 'cross the hard-boiled eggs, traverse the spinnin' orange slices, ride tha banana zipline, n' land on the pile o' pancakes! Once both members of ya pair have landed on the pancakes, ya time's locked in."

"The mudpit of what?" Veronica asked.

"Grits. It's a type of porridge eaten mostly in certain parts of the US," Orson explained. "I kind of like it."

"Do Americans really eat gritty porridge on purpose? How quaint!" Veronica laughed. "I shall have to try some."

"That aside, this seems like a suspiciously straightforward challenge," Charlie noted.

"What, we can't use all our tricks right out of the gate," Chris said innocently. "Gotta whet your appetites first, hehaha."

"Lastly, and this is the most important part," Chef continued. "Y'all are not playin' for Invincibility! Today's the first of what we call Pineapple Challenges."

"Yooo, Pineapple Express, alright," Lazarus chuckled.

"The winners of today's challenge will win a special privilege," Chef said. Panic gagged. "Tonight, they will get ta pick one of tha other pairs, n' inflict the Pineapple on 'em! This Pineapple will give tha pair affected by it a big disadvantage in tomorra's Invincibility Challenge. It can swing the tide o' the game, so ya don't wanna end up on tha wrong side of it!"

"Can I ask why it's called the Pineapple?" Jenna wondered.

"It's Total Drama Pizza Party, brah," Chris explained. "And everyone knows pineapple ruins pizza!"

"What, that old joke?" Peter griped.

"The idea of the vast majority holding disdain for pineapple on pizza has been discredited for years," Sawyer condescended. "Did you do any market research?"

"I love pineapple on pizza!" Sunshine expressed. "It's in a twenty-seven-way tie for my favorite pizza topping!"

"Look, that's what we're callin' it, and we ain't changin' it!" Chef maintained. "We'll decide which pairs go in which order through this randomizer app on my phone. Look alive!"

Ichabod: "Even if direct safety in the next elimination is not on the line, that does not make this challenge any less important. Taking control of the Pineapple also means wresting control from anyone else who might use it against me or an ally of mine. To ensure maximum efficiency, I simply must do everything in my power to emerge victorious. I just hope Charlie can perform in this challenge..."

Jenna: "Geez, like the amusement park wasn't enough, now they're building whole obstacle courses in the middle of the dining areas. Panic and I aren't exactly athletic powerhouses, but I don't think any of the pairs are immediately obvious to win this either, you know what I mean?"

Brynleigh: Her face was slightly green. "No, I didn't eat too much candy! Screw you! I can do this challenge just fine! I'm literally too cool and awesome and, uh... cool to not win this one!"

After a few seconds of staring at his phone, Chef revealed the screen to the players.

"First up is the Bacon Pink Pair!" he announced. "Alex n' Lazarus, up ta the startin' line!"

"Shouldn't it be 'Lazarus and Alex'?" Lazarus griped under his breath as the two approached the obstacle course. "I'm the one who got the Pizza Slice, my name should totally go first, maaaan."

"I think the other way just rolls off the tongue better," Alex guessed.

"On ya marks. Get set!" Chef prepared. "...GO!"

Alex and Lazarus set off, though their progress immediately slowed once they got to the field of bagels.

"What are these, just tires?" Lazarus mentioned, taking care to step through the holes without tripping.

"Come on, where's your sense of kayfabe?" Alex teased with a smile. "They're very clearly bagels."

"Right, my bad," Lazarus responded flatly.

The two made it across with little issue, arriving at the buttered toast ramp. Each grabbed onto one of the comically long bacon strips and began their climb. Lazarus's feet slipped more than once.

"You got it?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I got it," Lazarus grunted. "Don't slow down. It won't make my boots gain any more traction."

Alex accepted this, and kept up her ascent until she reached the top. She wiped her buttery hands on her pants, then leapt onto the first sausage monkeybar. She used the momentum to easily swing across the rest, until she landed in the mudpit of grits below. She took a second to catch her breath, and pressed forward.

Meanwhile, Lazarus had just made it to the top of the buttered toast ramp. He hurriedly jumped for the monkeybars, but his hands were still slippery from the buttery bacon rope. He slipped and fell onto the ground immediately.

"Ooh, that one's gonna bruise! Hehaha!" Chris laughed.

"What do I do now?" Lazarus asked.

"Go back 'til you can clear the obstacle!" Chef instructed.

"What, and climb the ramp again?" Lazarus whined.

"Do ya see any other way back up?!" Chef retorted.

Lazarus groaned and returned to the start of the buttered toast ramp.

Alex emerged from the grits and looked back.

"I wish there was something I could do to help," she thought aloud.

She faced forward again and looked up at the wall of waffle: a big climbing wall with square-shaped divots in a grid formation. She loosened her joints, and began her ascent.

"If nothing else, this will be an excellent way to get my daily exercise in," Alex told herself.

Lazarus made it to the top of the ramp once again, this time wiping the butter off his hands. He cleared the sausage monkeybars with ease, landing face-first into the grits below.

"H-Hey, hey Lazarus! Breakfast time was hours ago! Don't eat the obstacle course!" Chef mocked. He nudged Chris as the two tried to contain their laughter.

"Get bent, maaaan..." Lazarus grunted as he pulled his face out.

Lazarus: "Look, I haven't exactly cleared too many obstacle courses in my day. I'm sure that's true of a lot of people, so I'm blaming my performance thus far on the fact that my pair had to go first."

At the top of the wall of waffle, Alex looked on to see the next two obstacles. Three giant hard-boiled eggs sat before her, and she'd need to bounce across them to reach the orange slices. These were disks with wedges cut out of them that were suspended above the ground, and spun in different directions.

"Looks tricky, but I can't dawdle here," Alex determined.

She jumped for the first egg, but wasn't able to hit it at a good angle, and she fell onto the ground below.

"Oof. That's okay. Just have to try until I get it," Alex told herself as she hobbled back onto her feet.

She returned to the wall of waffle just as Lazarus climbed out the other side of the mudpit of grits.

"We meet again," Lazarus smirked.

"The wall isn't that bad. Just make sure you hit the eggs at the right angle," Alex informed him.

"What's the wrong angle?"

"Whatever I did, I guess," Alex shrugged.

"Gotcha," Lazarus nodded.

The two climbed up the wall until they reached the top.

"You go first, and I'll follow your lead," Lazarus suggested.

"Alright..." Alex agreed hesitantly.

She jumped for the first egg, and this time she was able to bounce across to the second and third eggs. She landed on the first orange slice.

"I did it!" Alex cheered. She called out to Lazarus. "The trick is to overshoot a little so you land on the far side of the egg!"

"Well don't tell all the others that," Lazarus grumbled, looking down at the rest of the contestants.

He followed after Alex and managed to make it past the first two eggs. His foot slipped on the third egg, and he fell back to the ground.

"You were close! You got this!" Alex called down to him.

"I've got something, that's for sure," Lazarus groaned as he stood back to his feet. "A fractured tailbone, maybe."

As he returned to the wall of waffle, Alex jumped across the orange slices once she could safely land on each one. Upon reaching the final slice, she looked up at the banana-shaped zipline handle.

"Surely the zipline goes back to the top once I let go," Alex figured.

She rode the zipline down to the pile of pancakes below. Sure enough, once she let go, the zipline returned to the top automatically.

"Alex has made it! Now Lazarus needs ta make it ta clock in Bacon Pink's time!" Chef announced.

Lazarus made it back to the top of the wall. He took a deep breath and jumped across the eggs, successfully landing on the first orange slice. Now in the zone, he jumped from orange slice to orange slice until he reached the banana zipline. One ride down, and he landed on the pile of pancakes.

"Time!" Chef called. "Bacon Pink has finished the obstacle course in six minutes, forty-seven seconds! That's the time ta beat!"

"Could be worse," Alex accepted.

Alex: "Well, I managed to actually fulfill the requirements of the challenge, so that's better than I did in the last one. I'm not sure how long our lead will last, but hey, Lazarus and I are both pretty fit. Maybe we can hold onto our lead the whole way through!"

"Next up is Cheese Yellow!" Chef announced.

"That's us!" Sunshine cheered, tugging on Dede's sleeve.

"Everyone's watching..." Dede said with a shaky smile. "I can do this. It'll be fine."

"You'll do great!" Sunshine encouraged as the two approached the starting line.

"Y'all will have six minutes, forty-seven seconds ta try'n beat Bacon Pink's time!" Chef explained. "If ya take longer than that, it'll be a DNF!"

"A what?" Dede asked.

"Did! Not! Finish!" Chef clarified.

"Don't worry, I always finish things that I start!" Sunshine pledged.

The Cheese Yellow Pair stood ready at the starting position.

"On ya marks... get set..." Chef began. "GO!"

Both girls ran up to the field of bagels. Sunshine skipped and frolicked through them effortlessly, while Dede stumbled over herself more than once trying to make it through. She'd barely made it halfway through by the time Sunshine had already begun climbing the buttered toast ramp.

"Come on, Dede! We can get the fastest time yet!" Sunshine encouraged.

"I'm going as fast as I can, I swear..." Dede murmured. "Er, don't worry about me! Just make sure you finish quickly!"

"It's not who finishes first, it's who finishes second that matters!" Sunshine reminded her. "Besides, I'm always here for you! Always!"

She let go of the bacon rope and slid back down to the ground. She reached across the bagels, took Dede's hand, and pulled. All this accomplished was making both of them fall face-first into each other, bonking foreheads together and falling down onto the field of bagels.

"Ooh! Looks like Cheese Yellow aren't pulling ahead!" Chris laughed. "Things have really come to a head for them! They, they should have used their he-"

"Shut the hell up, Chris," Chef interrupted.

"It's fine! We can still do this!" Sunshine insisted, scrambling to her feet. "Alex and Lazarus wiped out a couple times. We can still beat their time!"

"Can I writhe in pain just a minute longer?" Dede asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Nope! No time to lose!" Sunshine beamed, pulling Dede back onto her feet.

The two approached the buttered toast ramp and grabbed onto their bacon ropes to begin their ascent.

Sunshine: "If there's one thing a true friend refuses to do, it's give up on those they care about! Dede might not be the fastest girl in the game, but I'll make sure she doesn't fall behind! It's just like what I do for everyone else in gym class, except it's just one person and not thirty, and also Dede isn't telling me to mind my own business."

The Cheese Yellow Pair made it to the top of the ramp and approached the sausage monkeybars.

"Oh barf... I never learned how to do monkeybars," Dede admitted.

"Here, watch me!" Sunshine volunteered.

She wiped the butter off her hands, then swung across the monkeybars with ease, landing in the grits below.

"It's easy! Just follow your own momentum!" she advised.

Dede took a deep breath and went for the monkeybars. Once she swung from the first one, she immediately froze up and lost all her momentum.

"That's okay! Just grab the next one, one hand at a time!" Sunshine called.

Dede slowly reached for the monkeybar in front of her, but her arms gave out, and she fell to the floor below.

"Dede! Are you okay?!" Sunshine cried, running up to help.

"Can I writhe for a minute this time?" Dede moaned in pain.

"...If you don't want to finish this challenge, that's fine," Sunshine told her. "Just let me know. I'll do whatever makes you happy."

"I don't just want to give up," Dede winced, forcing herself to stand back up. She glanced at the clock, which indicated five minutes had passed since they started their run. "I don't think we'll be beating Pink's time, though."

"Oh, wow, time flies when you're having fun, huh?" Sunshine laughed as she noticed the clock.

"...I want to at least clear the monkeybars," Dede decided.

"That's the spirit!" Sunshine bounced.

Dede returned to the buttered toast ramp and, with determination in her eyes, climbed back up. Once she made it to the top, she took a deep breath, and then the buzzer sounded.

"Cheese Yellow could not clear the course faster than Bacon Pink! DNF!" Chef called.

Dede hung her head.

Dede: "Oh, give me a break! All I wanted was to not look like a complete mess in front of my allies, and I couldn't even do that much! How are they going to know they can rely on me if I can't even rely on me?! Get it together, Dede!"

"Alright, next up is tha Anchovy Gray team!" Chef announced. "C'mon Peter and Aoi, we ain't got all day here!"

Peter walked up to the starting line, followed by Aoi who lagged noticeably behind.

"Tha time to beat is still six minutes n' forty-seven seconds!" Chef said to the pair. "If you don't finish in that time, you'll get a DNF!"

"Right," Peter said flatly.

"Alright, on ya marks, get set," Chef raised his hand in the air. "Go!"

Peter began running through the bagels, stumbling slightly through them but keeping himself upright.

"Just get this over with fast…" Peter muttered to himself as he reached the buttered toast ramp. "Wait, where's…"

Peter looked behind him to see Aoi standing perfectly still with his arms crossed. Peter waved his arms above his head.

"What the?!" Peter called back to his teammate. "Aoi, what the hell are you doing?"

Aoi stood there, motionless.

"Dammit," Peter grumbled as he backtracked to the starting line.

Aoi continued standing perfectly still as Peter walked back towards him. Peter then waved his hand directly in Aoi's face.

"Um, hello? Earth to stupid?" Peter snapped his fingers in Aoi's face. "The challenge already started."

"I know," Aoi said.

Peter eyebrows raised in surprise.

"That means we need to… y'know, do the challenge," Peter continued.

"Don't wanna," Aoi replied.

"Okay, yeah I don't necessarily want to traipse through this diabetes inducing wonderland either, but we kinda need to to win the challenge!" Peter argued.

"Don't care," Aoi looked away from Peter.

Peter sighed loudly.

Peter: "Ugh! Aoi is so useless! If I had known he'd act like this from the get go I would've picked someone else, anyone else! Even Brynleigh! Well… maybe not that far."

"I do not need the challenge to win," Aoi stated. "So I will not participate."

"You do realize you're tanking both of us here right?" Peter shook his head.

"And?" Aoi said.

Peter buried his face in his hands.

"Alright… Chef, I think we're just done with this challenge," Peter sighed.

Chef and Chris exchanged glances and chuckled to themselves. Peter stared.

"Alright then!" Chris began. "I guess team Anchovy Gray have let themselves be losers today! That means–"

"Tha time to beat still is held by Bacon Pink!" Chef interrupted Chris. "Will any team be able to beat their dominant performance?"

Aoi smirked.

Aoi: Aoi took a bite of a churro he was holding. "I have more important things to do than challenges."

Sawyer immediately walked up to the starting line, Orson following behind.

"Alright! Next–Sawyer and Orson? What are y'all doin' here already?" Chef asked. "I haven't asked y'all to come up yet!"

"We were next up anyway, if you look at the screen right there," Sawyer motioned towards the sign, where the Pepperoni Red duo was shown. "I don't enjoy wasting time."

"And I don't enjoy stupid brats interruptin' my hostin' duties!" Chef exclaimed.

"That's tough," Sawyer replied.

Chef grumbled as he raised his hand in the air.

"Alright, time to beat is still six minutes and forty-seven seconds," Chef continued. "On ya marks get set go."

Chef crossed his arms indignantly as Sawyer and Orson began running through the bagels. Sawyer ran without changing pace while Orson started slowing down.

"Sawyer…" Orson huffed as he fell behind. "Wait up…"

"What?" Sawyer yelled, not looking back. "Time is money! We gotta move!"

Sawyer immediately began climbing up the buttered toast ramp, barely losing steam before standing up at the top of the ramp and jumping immediately onto the sausage monkey bars.

"Oh boy," Orson muttered to himself as he flopped onto the ground in front of the buttered toast wall. "Finally."

Orson grabbed the bacon rope and stepped onto the wall, before losing his footing immediately and face planting onto the wall. Orson groaned in pain.

Orson: "I never thought these challenges would be so hard so fast… Sawyer is going so fast and man, I'm dragging her down here so bad. She's gonna be pissed, not looking forward to that…"

Sawyer swung from the monkey bars and fell into the pit of grits. She looked down at her suit, now covered in grits, and grumbled angrily.

"You're gonna be getting a dry cleaning bill in the mail, Chef," Sawyer snarled. "This suit isn't cheap, you know."

"Check ya contract again!" Chef said, chuckling. "We ain't gotta pay for nothin' ruined during the filmin' of the show!"

"Nice," Chris smugly said, motioning for a high five, which Chef returned.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Sawyer mumbled.

She then got up and walked up to the wall of waffles. She looked at it for a second then immediately began climbing it. Meanwhile, back at the buttered toast ramp, Orson slowly climbed up the ramp, eventually reaching the top.

"Damn, this is hard," Orson shook his head. "Alright, Orson, time to try this…"

Orson hopped on the monkey bars and slowly swung across them, losing his grip about halfway through, falling to the ground. Sawyer, upon finishing climbing the wall of waffles, finally looked back at where her teammate was.

"Orson, what the hell is this?!" Sawyer yelled. "Hurry the hell up!"

"I've been trying!" Orson yelped back. "This is harder than I thought it'd be!"

"I don't have time for your excuses!" Sawyer exclaimed, preparing to jump onto the hard boiled eggs. "You need to pick it up, now!"

Orson's eyes narrowed in irritation as he climbed back up the buttered toast ramp slowly.

"No need to worry about that slacker, just worry about yourself," Sawyer said to herself. "Get over these stupid eggs and you'll be home free."

Sawyer got a slight running start and jumped onto the first egg, nearly bouncing off but keeping her grip. She slowly steadied herself and jumped off towards the next one, landing perfectly on her feet this time, keeping her balance.

"Excellent," Sawyer smirked. "One more."

Sawyer then jumped from the second one onto the last one, belly flopping onto it and barely being able to hang on. She scrambled onto her feet and reached for the orange slice. She then climbed onto it.

"All that's left is this, then I'm done," Sawyer said to herself. She then looked back at Orson who was still struggling on the monkey bars, and then shouted down at him. "And then maybe SOMEONE else will get their ass in gear!"

"Wha?" Orson said, near the end of the monkey bars. He then lost his concentration and fell, barely landing into the pit of grits. "Ow…"

Sawyer rolled her eyes and then grabbed onto the zipline, riding down to and falling into the pile of pancakes.

"And Sawyer has finished with an impressive time of five minutes and fifty seconds!" Chef announced. "However that doesn't matter if Orson doesn't finish, so his time is what counts!"

"Way to put the pressure on, Chef!" Orson said, as he began to climb the wall of waffles. "This doesn't seem too bad though…"

"Hurry up, Orson!" Sawyer yelled.

Orson grimaced and pulled himself up to the top of wall. Now facing the eggs, he gulped and looked at them. He took a running start but then tripped and fell down to the ground immediately. Sawyer buried her face in her hands as Orson slowly got back to his feet.

"Looks like time's runnin' out! Orson's maybe gon' get one more shot at this!" Chef said, looking at his stopwatch. "Will he do it?"

Orson struggled back up the wall of waffle and stared at the eggs.

"Alright, I can do this, I can do this," Orson hyped himself up, jumping up and down in place. "I can do this!"

Orson then began to run towards the eggs, jumping and landing onto the first one, and immediately jumping from the first one onto the second one.

"I'm doing it!" Orson exclaimed.

Orson then made his jump from the second one to the third one, and right as Orson was about to land onto the third one Chef raised his hand in the air and blew a whistle.

"Alright! Time's up!" Chef laughed. "Y'all lost!"

"Huh?" Orson said, as he hit the last egg, he lost his balance and bounced back off of it, onto the second one, and then bounced off that one and fell to the ground face first.

"Typical employees…" Sawyer crossed her arms.

"Hmph," Orson groaned, face down in the dirt.

Sawyer: "I know I said before that all I really needed was someone who was loyal as I could carry the mental, physical, and social components of this game. But I would've expected at least a bit more effort from Orson here! His stock is lowering in my eyes, for sure."

"Close, but no cigar! Just like that lollipop Sawyer's always got, eh?" Chris chuckled.

"Work harder," Chef remarked. "Anyway, next up is Mushroom Blue!"

"Can you do this?" Ichabod asked Charlie. "I'd be remiss if your injury were to exacerbate under my supervision."

"Hey, I'm a player in this game, just like you," Charlie claimed. "I can make my own decisions, and signing up for Total Drama was one of them. Nobody's responsible for me, but me."

"If you wholeheartedly believe that you can swiftly and safely complete this obstacle course with minimal obstruction, then I will believe you," Ichabod stated. "I trust that you will not make light of my faith in your capabilities."

"Well, when you put it that way, how could we possibly lose?" Charlie chuckled.

"Yo! Earth ta' Mushroom! Are ya playin' or not?!" Chef called.

"We are," the two said simultaneously.

"Then quit holdin' up the challenge!" Chef commanded.

Ichabod and Charlie took position before the starting line.

"On ya' marks! Get set!" Chef began. "...Go!"

The Mushroom Blue Pair set off into the field of bagels. Many of the other contestants showed surprise when Charlie pulled ahead of Ichabod.

"N' Charlie clears the bagels with ease!" Chef commentated. "He's already onto the toast ramp!"

Ichabod, not far behind, joined Charlie in ascending the buttery slope.

"I apologize if my concern came across as patronizing," Ichabod told him. "It seems you are, indeed, more than capable of holding your own."

"We used to do tire drills all the time in rugby practice," Charlie explained. "And careful footing has always been a part of my daily life since. This is the easy part. We'll see how I do in the back half."

Charlie: "If one sees an obstacle course as a race with extra steps, then they'd be forgiven for thinking that I might struggle. But speed isn't the primary factor here. Strength and endurance are also key, and I have those in spades." He tapped his temple. "That's why you've always got to look at the bigger picture. Problem-solving methods can be helpful in all kinds of circumstances."

One after another, Charlie and Ichabod swung themselves across the sausage monkeybars and down into the grits below.

"Hm. At this rate, we may just take the lead yet," Ichabod commented.

"I'm not going to look at the clock, but as long as Chef hasn't called time, then we're in the lead," Charlie figured. "We absolutely have this."

The two arrived at the wall of waffle and wasted no time with their ascent.

"The guys have a strong lead, but it's not over until both lock in their time," Chris said. "Anything can happen here on Total Drama Pizza Party."

"Can you shuttin' up happen?" Chef asked.

Chris furrowed his eyebrows.

Both Ichabod and Charlie made it to the top of the wall with little issue. They stood at the top, facing the bouncy boiled eggs before them.

"After you," Ichabod offered.

"Oh, I see, you want to see me fail so you know what not to do," Charlie teased.

"...I'm going to take that as a joke," Ichabod twitched.

"A good sense of humor never hurt anyone," Charlie smiled. "Glad to see yours is still going strong."

"Just take the jump," Ichabod sighed.

Charlie took a deep breath and jumped for the first giant egg. His eyes went wide as he landed, and he slipped and fell to the ground.

"That hurt a little more than I expected. I'll try to balance my weight better next time!" Charlie insisted.

"He had better not push himself beyond his limits..." Ichabod muttered to himself as he watched Charlie return to the bottom of the climbing wall.

Returning focus to the eggs, Ichabod moved his finger in front of his face, as if calculating something. With a slight running start, he jumped onto the first egg, bounced onto the second, and cleared the third with perfect timing to land upon the rotating orange wedge. He jumped over the spinning bar as he waited for his chance to jump onto the next orange slice.

By this point, Charlie had already returned to the top of the waffle wall.

"You can do it. You can do it. You can do it," he told himself.

Before he jumped, Ichabod had made it to the next orange slice, grabbed the zipline, and rode it down to the pile of pancakes below.

"Ichabod finishes in a respectable three minutes, four seconds!" Chef announced. "If Charlie can finish in the next three-forty-three, Mushroom Blue will secure the new lead!"

"Oh, that's even easier than I thought," Charlie chuckled to himself.

Charlie jumped onto the first egg, landing on his good leg first, and using his injured leg to help propel him onto the next one. This tactic allowed him to clear all three eggs and land on the orange slice with relative ease.

"He so has it, maaaan," Lazarus whined.

"Hey, it's like he said. It's not over until it's over," Alex reassured him.

Charlie hopped on his good leg to avoid the spinning bars of the orange slices. In just a few more seconds, he made it to the banana zipline, and rode it down onto the pile of pancakes.

"And that's that!" Chef announced. "Mushroom Blue takes the new lead, with three minutes, twenty-two seconds!"

"That should be considerably difficult for the others to overcome," Ichabod nodded, satisfied.

"What would you do without me?" Charlie said, putting his hand on Ichabod's shoulder.

Ichabod: "It's assuring to know that I've made no error in entrusting Charlie as my closest confidant. I can think of no better partner who can level with me on both a strategic and a physical level. At this rate, I see little way those who oppose us can do so with any effectiveness. As it should be."

"Well after that impressive time from Mushroom Blue, will anyone be able to beat 'em?" Chef asked. "Next up is Jalapeno Green, so probably not!"

"Gee, thanks," Panic rolled their eyes as they walked up to the starting line.

Chris and Chef giggled to themselves.

"Don't pay them any mind," Jenna waved her hand towards the two hosts. "Let's at least try here."

"Won't do much good, but I guess we may as well," Panic crossed their arms. "Nothing was ever done by sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. Action is required!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Jenna smiled. "Let's kick this challenge's ass."

"Right!" Panic said with a determined look in their eye.

"Sounds like y'all are ready," Chef nodded. "The time to beat is three minutes and twenty-two seconds! Ready… Set… Go!"

"Let's do this!" Panic yelled.

Panic then ran into the bagel tires and tripped on the first one. Jenna tripped not much further ahead. Assorted chuckles arose from the crowd.

Panic: "Tripping on the first one? Absolutely embarrassing. Guess this wouldn't be the first time I embarrassed myself in front of a crowd, but at least those times it was for a cause and not tripping on a tire dolled up to look like a breakfast food!"

Jenna wobbled to her feet and looked back at Panic who was still face-down on the tires.

"Alright bad start," Jenna said to herself. She then started running through the tires, more carefully this time. Panic followed behind.

After a short while, the two finally finished the bagel tires, and moved onto the buttered toast ramp.

"Man, people do that crap for fun?" Panic said, clutching their side. "That was torture… and it was just the first obstacle!"

"Yeah, that was rough," Jenna rubbed the back of her head. "I guess let's keep going."

Jenna grabbed onto the bacon rope and slowly began climbing the ramp. Without much issue, she made her way to the top and flopped onto the top of the ramp. Panic then grabbed the same rope and attempted to climb the ramp but slipped nearly immediately.

"How the hell'd you get up there so easily? Any tips?" Panic called to Jenna.

"Non-slip shoes," Jenna replied. "Gotta wear 'em for work."

"Well that won't help me now!" Panic complained. Jenna shrugged.

Panic sighed and stood up again, putting their foot on the ramp again. Slowly, Panic climbed up the wall, nearly losing their footing multiple times. Near the top, they slipped and held on to the rope with both hands, barely holding on.

"Jenna, help!" Panic yelped. Jenna outstretched her hands and struggled to pull Panic up. "I feel like I'm falling!"

"Try to get your footing again! You're gonna pull me down with you if you don't!" Jenna yelled back, trying to hold on.

"Okay, I'll try!" Panic tried getting to their feet, finally managing to do so. Jenna then fell back, pulling Panic up to the top with them. The two fell in a heap on the top of the ramp.

"This is sad," Chris remarked, laughing. Chef nodded.

The two got back to their feet again and looked at the monkey bars.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Jenna said with a sigh. She ran and jumped at the first one. She grabbed onto it with both hands and then looked around. "Okay, now what?"

"You swing to the next one! You got it!" Panic encouraged.

Jenna started trying to swing herself towards the next bar, gaining a little momentum. Eventually trying to jump for it and missing, landing on the ground below. Panic winced.

"This is gonna suck, isn't it," Panic remarked. They then tried jumping for the first monkey bar, missing and hitting the ground below. Panic groaned.

"Alright, times up!" Chef announced, raising his hand in the air.

"Curse this tiny frame of mine!" Panic balled their fists and raised them to the sky.

"It's all good, not all the challenges will be this… right?" Jenna attempted to comfort Panic.

Chef shrugged.

Jenna: "When I got dragged into this show I wasn't really expecting to have to do some kind of military training course or whatever. I thought these types of shows were people just sitting around in a house fighting with each other. Surely there'll be challenges more suited to the two of us."

"Next up: Sausage Brown!" Chef announced. "Gotta beat three minutes, twenty-two seconds!"

Pavel looked to Brynleigh, who held her stomach and groaned quietly. "You feelin' alright?"

"What? I mean, I'm as good as I can be, considering you're here," Brynleigh scowled.

"Because you ate all that candy before, right?" Pavel remembered. "We don't have to do this one if you aren't feelin' it. Blue won't use the Pineapple on us."

"Pfft! Fuck that!" Brynleigh objected. "I could win this challenge if I had the flu, pneumonia, and covid all at once!"

"Hey! I'm just trying to show some concern for my teammate!" Pavel argued. "You don't hafta be rude about it!"

"Well I didn't ask for your concern! So there!" Brynleigh shouted back.

"Oh, for the love of-" Sawyer sighed. "Time is money! And you're wasting mine!"

"Yeah, Pavel, quit wasting Sawyer's time," Brynleigh mocked as she made her way to the starting line.

"Listen here, you little-!" Pavel seethed as he approached the starting line.

"Cool, y'all're on ya' marks!" Chef said exasperatedly. "Get set... GO!"

"Huh?!" Pavel reacted. Brynleigh already began stepping through the bagels, so he followed after her.

"You call this a challenge?!" Brynleigh laughed. "I eat bagels like this in my sleep!"

"Eating bagels isn't as impressive as it sounds. I do that all the time," Chris snickered.

"Despite that, Brynleigh's already cleared the bagels!" Chef announced.

Pavel caught up to Brynleigh quickly and began climbing the buttered toast.

"You don't hafta prove anything, you know," Pavel told her.

"No shit, Sherlock," Brynleigh denied. "Stop following me!"

"What? I'm your partner, we have to do this challenge together!" Pavel argued.

"Says who?" Brynleigh dismissed.

"Chef! Chris! Common sense!" Pavel ranted.

Brynleigh made it to the top of the ramp and cleared the sausage monkeybars before Pavel could get his footing at the top.

Pavel: "Is she going outta her way to be difficult on purpose? 'Cuz it's really pissin' me off! Damn it, what was it Charlie said? About making her want to listen to me? ...Eh, screw it, what does that guy know anyway? I picked Brynleigh as my partner, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make it work."

Brynleigh made it through the grits and started climbing the wall of waffle just as Pavel made it into the grits.

"Come on, you want to win this game, right?" Pavel reasoned. "The best way to do that is if we're on the same page. Teamwork makes the dream work!"

"Tch. What makes you think I want to be in the same book as you? Forget the same page!" Brynleigh laughed.

"I could just stop trying this challenge, and we'll both lose," Pavel warned.

"Please! It would literally make my day," Brynleigh claimed.

Pavel grit his teeth as he stepped out of the grits. He looked up at the giant waffle to see Brynleigh slowing down, frequently stopping to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her forehead. He looked to the clock, which displayed that two and a half minutes had passed. He sighed and shook his head as he began climbing. It didn't take long for him to catch up.

"Wow, look at that, I guess your word doesn't mean anything, huh?" Brynleigh jeered. "Couldn't even keep a promise you made five seconds ago."

Pavel forcefully grabbed Brynleigh by the top of her jacket and kept climbing.

"Hey! Bad touch, bad touch!" Brynleigh objected. "Put me down!"

Pavel reached the top of the wall. He grabbed the bottom of Brynleigh's jacket with his free hand, and began swinging her back and forth.

"What are you-?! I really will get sick if you-!" Brynleigh thrashed to little avail.

Pavel let go of Brynleigh, sending her soaring over the bouncy boiled eggs and the spinning orange wedges, past the banana zipline, and facedown directly on top of the pile of pancakes.

"Uh... Brynleigh's made it to the end, I guess!" Chef announced. "If Pavel hurries, he can secure the new best time for Sausage Brown!"

"You sure that's legal?" Chris asked. "The rules of the challenge clearly said-"

"The rules of 'I'm in charge' are clearly sayin' 'That's allowed'!" Chef interrupted.

"Whatever. It's your angry fan letters," Chris shrugged.

"Fans know better," Chef said. He shot a stern look into a nearby camera.

Pavel cleared the boiled eggs on his first try, and jumped across the rotating orange slices as quickly as he could. He grabbed onto the banana zipline and dropped onto the pile of pancakes, right next to Brynleigh.

"Sausage Brown beats Mushroom Blue's time!" Chef called. "With a final time of three minutes, eight seconds! It's gon' be tough to beat, but Onion Purple's chance is comin' up next!"

Brynleigh slumped off the pancakes and onto her feet to the floor below. She groaned and held her forehead with one hand and her stomach with the other. Pavel slid down next to her.

"See what we can accomplish if we work together?" Pavel grinned.

He slapped Brynleigh on the back. Her eyes went wide and she let out something between a cough and a gag.

Brynleigh: "Well, I think I more than proved out there that I'm exactly as cool and awesome as everyone's always said. Pavel WHO?! Heh heh heh."

"Well that leaves only Onion Purple left to compete!" Chris smiled as he raised his arms in the air dramatically. "Will they be able to beat Sausage Brown's time? I seriously doubt–"

"Chris man, you gotta stop tryna take over tha hostin' duties!" Chef narrowed his eyes. "Anyway, it's time for Onion Purple to take their spot at the startin' line!"

Remi and Veronica stood at the starting line.

"Alright, partner! Let's rock this challenge!" Remi beamed at Veronica.

"I've never done an obstacle course before!" Veronica clapped her hands together. "I'm very excited! I feel like such a layman!"

"That's… great!" Remi nodded, confusedly. "We're gonna kick some ass!"

"Alright!" Chef raised his hand. "The time to beat is three minutes and eight seconds! On ya marks, get set, go!"

Remi and Veronica began running through the bagel tires. Remi quickly took the lead and Veronica slowed to a walk. Remi looked behind to his teammate.

"Hey fellow Remi, you good back there?" Remi asked as he reached the end of the tires.

"I told you–ugh, I'm not great!" Veronica called to Remi. "This is hard to do in heels!"

"Then take off the heels!" Remi said back. He looked up at the clock nervously as it ticked down. "We gotta hustle man!"

"And put my bare feet on the ground here?!" Veronica gasped as she continued walking toward the end of the bagel tires. "But it's so… sticky! I could never!"

"But–" Remi said, before catching himself. "It's okay, no problem! Just do what you can!"

"I appreciate your caring attitude, Remi," Veronica said, as she finally reached the end of the bagels. "Alright, what's next!"

"...The ramp," Remi said, looking up at it.

Remi: "I know Veronica's trying her best here, but it's go time man! We gotta hustle! Although I gotta say, I'm kinda surprised she's trying this at all. It is really messy. Guess it just shows she's actually serious about the whole growing thing." Remi smiled.

"I guess let's give it a go!" Remi smiled as he grabbed a rope and began climbing the ramp. Veronica looked at the ropes unsure.

"They feel so… greasy!" Veronica recoiled upon touching one. "Is this the only way up? Is there no elevator?"

"Nope!" Chef chuckled. "Just a few greasy, disgustin' pieces a' bacon!"

"How pedestrian!" Veronica cringed upon touching the ropes. She started slowly attempting to walk up the ramp.

"That's right Roni, way to work that rope!" Remi called back in excitement. "You'll be up here before you know it!"

Remi then finished climbing the ramp and noticed Veronica not moving at the bottom.

"I can't get moving on this trivial obstacle!" Veronica frustratedly yelled. "How do people climb inclines like this?!"

"You gotta use your core muscles, girl!" Remi replied. "Brace your core!"

"My 'core' muscles?" Veronica questioned. "I don't believe I have many of those, my parents would never let me near anything so barbaric and dangerous as weights!"

Remi rubbed his chin.

"Hmm, think Remi," Remi muttered to himself. "How can you help?"

Remi then slid back down the ramp.

"It seems Remi has forgotten what the point of the challenge was!" Chef commentated. "Has the Purple team given up?"

"Not even close, Chef!" Remi smiled as he got behind Veronica. "Don't worry, Roni. We'll get you up this ramp in no time!"

"Excuse me, what are you do–AAAH!" Veronica was interrupted by Remi beginning to push her up the ramp, causing her to yelp.

"Trust the process, I got this!" Remi huffed as he slowly pushed Veronica up the ramp. Veronica looked around, frightened.

Eventually the two got to the top of the ramp and Veronica put her hands on her knees.

"Goodness, what a workout that was!" Veronica said. "I can now see why laborers tend to complain so much about aches and pains!"

"Yeah, tell me about it," Remi laughed as he grabbed Veronica's shoulder playfully. "Alright, next up is those monkey bars!"

"I don't see any monkeys here?" Veronica said, looking around. "Why do they call them that?"

"No time to explain, just follow my lead, okay?" Remi reassured Veronica before hopping onto the monkey bars, and quickly crossing them, landing in the pit of grits below. "See, it's that easy, alright?"

"Do I have to do into… that?" Veronica gulped as she motioned at the grits.

"It's okay, it's just grits!" Remi smiled.

"I–uh, alright!" Veronica uneasily jumped onto the monkey bars and slowly began going from one to the next. "I'm scared, Remi!"

"You signed up to get out of your shell, so let's do it now!" Remi called to Veronica.

"You're right!" Veronica nodded, more assured. "I'm coming down!"

Veronica then sat there, not letting go.

"You sure?" Remi asked.

"I am!" Veronica huffed. "It's just.. Taking me a while!"

Veronica then sighed and closed her eyes, letting go of the bar. She fell into the grits below.

"Oh my god!" Veronica exclaimed as she stood up, looking at her dress, now covered in grits. "This slop has sullied my dress!"

Chef then raised his hand and blew his whistle. "Unfortunately, that's all tha time y'all had left, so you lose!"

"We lost?" Veronica whimpered, holding back tears.

Veronica: "I am aching in places I never even knew could ache! Also I am covered in this lumpy, disgusting slop!" She raised her arms and tried shaking the grits off, before giving up and sighing. "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

The sixteen contestants then gathered back in one area in front of Chef.

"Alright, and with a time of three minutes and eight seconds, the Sausage Brown team has won the first Pineapple!" Chef announced, Pavel smiled and Brynleigh crossed her arms and looked around, smugly.

"Pfft, as if there was any doubt!" Brynleigh exclaimed as she walked up and grabbed the pineapple from Chef. Pavel rolled his eyes.

"You do realize you were mostly carried through that, right?" Peter crossed his arms.

"Definitely wasn't, don't know what you were watching," Brynleigh scoffed. "All I know is that I won and you're a LOSER so I don't give a shit what you say!"

"Brynleigh, come on," Pavel shook his head disapprovingly. "Stop bein' a jerk."

Brynleigh rolled her eyes. "I can do whatever I want with this!" She held up the Pineapple.

"Didn't wanna have to do this," Pavel grabbed it from her hands and held it over his head. Brynleigh feverishly grabbed for it, punching his midsection to no avail.

"Give it back you big stupid jerk!" Brynleigh protested.

"He sure knows how to pick 'em," Panic snarked. Orson chuckled slightly.

Chef blew his whistle again. "Alright alright! Sausage Brown, y'all got the afternoon to decide who you guys wanna give the Pineapple to. To remind ya, the Pineapple will give the affected team some kinda disadvantage in the next round! So choose wisely! Report to the plaza at 6 pm! Got it?!"

Everyone nodded.

Brynleigh: "Naturally the game favors the best competitors, which I obviously am! So it's not a shock I get the power! I may as well hold onto this, because I'm gonna always have it anyway!" Brynleigh blinked. "Wait, I mean I'm always gonna be giving it up! Wait, I mean–!"

Sawyer: "Of course the stupid brat would be the first one to get such a power in the game. It's all right though, I have her on a short leash and if she knows what's good for her, she will pick who I tell her to. Should be an easy day."

Pavel: "Winnin' the first challenge is great! Shows that we got the skill to make it to the top! Brynleigh just needed a little… push, I guess." He chuckled. "Now we gotta figure out what to do with the Pineapple, which I bet'll be tough. We haven't even talked game yet! I'll just talk to the guys, maybe they'll know what to do here."

Ichabod: "Pavel winning this challenge for the team is great. We will need to convene at once to plan out our next move. As per our talk, I do have no reason to believe Brynleigh is not on our side. But with such a wildcard in such a position of power, it is impossible to tell."

The players dispersed and met up in various areas of the Fantastic Feast Faire to discuss the implications of the challenge results. Lazarus gathered Alex, Sawyer, and Panic in a secluded section of the park.

"Alright, looks like the gang is all here," he smiled.

"This is the gang?" Alex asked. "First I've heard of it. Not that I have anything against you two! I just didn't know this had... been arranged?"

"Didn't I tell you? My bad," Lazarus chuckled. "If we're going to make it through this game, we need tenacious allies."

"Yes, Panic proved thoroughly how tenacious they are in today's challenge," Sawyer remarked.

"Did you gather us here for a reason?" Panic pressed Lazarus. "I'm all for unionizing, but there has to be a greater purpose!"

"I just wanted to see how we all felt about Brown winning the Pineapple, maaaan," Lazarus claimed. "See if we should do something about it."

"Like what?" Alex asked earnestly.

"Try and get into their ears, convince them that they should keep their eyes off of us?" Lazarus suggested.

"I'd intended to, but I was under the impression that you had something important to say," Sawyer responded. She stuck a lollipop in her mouth. "If you don't, then I'll be on my way, and I'll try not to make that mistake again."

"Hey, I do agree that it's important to make sure we're all on the same page," Alex offered. "Meetings can seem superfluous, but it can spark synergy you might not even realize down the line."

"You think you know how to run a business better than I do?" Sawyer challenged.

"Oh, no, not at all," Alex said. "I was pulling from my personal experience at the studio. You have no idea how many times the cast and crew have been brought together just to be told things we already know. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel a bit closer to them."

"I can feel myself falling head over heels already," Panic snarked. "Like I said: unless you have an actual cause for us to unite under, I don't want to spend any more time with Lazarus or Sawyer than necessary."

"Well what do you know? Maybe Panic is tenacious," Sawyer said smugly. She turned to Lazarus. "If you're that concerned about Brown putting the disadvantage on your pair, maybe try talking to them instead of trying to force this alliance that clearly is not working."

With a casual wave, she turned and left.

"Loath as I am to agree with her... Yeah, get your head out of your ass," Panic said, turning and leaving in a different direction.

"Well, that was kind of awkward," Alex commented. She turned to see Lazarus's face twisted in rage, complete with a pronounced vein on his forehead.

"I go out of my way for these morons, and this is how they repay me?!" he ranted. "They have the nerve to talk down to me like that?! Oh, they will come to regret this. I'm more tenacious than either of them know, maaaaan!"

Alex thought over her next words carefully as Lazarus broke into desperate laughter.

"Do you think Remi and Veronica might serve as better allies?" she proposed.

Lazarus laughed even harder. Alex backed up a little.

Alex: "I see where Lazarus is coming from, but I don't think he sees the bigger picture as much as he thinks he does. I haven't spent a ton of time with Sawyer and Panic, but even I could tell they don't necessarily get along. Although, we may be hard-pressed to find allies who'd get along with Lazarus himself at this point. But it's okay. We have plenty of time to figure things out."

Panic: "Yeah, yeah, I know, safety in numbers and all that. I don't think negative numbers really apply in that idiom, though. There have to be better options for me than Sawyer and Lazarus, right? Even the Gray Pair seems easier to work with, and those two barely even talk to each other!"

Sunshine and Orson walked through another section of the park.

"...and that's how I managed to save the basket weaving club from going bankrupt!" Sunshine told him. "I don't think any of them spoke to me again after that, but that's probably because they're too busy weaving baskets. Have you ever tried basket weaving? I haven't. It looks cool! We should try it! Oh my gosh, do you think they have basket weaving classes here?! We have to sign up! Where are they?!"

"I... don't know if they would have those in a theme-park-slash-food-court," Orson admitted.

"Well, you won't know until you try searching!" Sunshine enthused. "I didn't know I'd be friends with you until I went searching, and now look at us!"

"Haha, yeah..." Orson responded.

"Oh, that reminds me! You should make even more friends!" Sunshine offered. She gasped loudly. "This will be perfect! I love helping people come out of their shell!"

"I don't know. Sawyer says that showing vulnerability is a weakness," Orson relayed. "I'd hate for you to get in her bad graces for my sake."

"Nonsense! I won't let myself be in people's bad graces!" Sunshine declared. "And anyone who says I am, just needs even more Sunshine in their lives! Heehee!"

The two meandered back to the Breakfast Nook, where they saw a figure standing in front of the obstacle course.

"Hey, isn't that Veronica over there?" Orson noticed.

By the course, Veronica was in the midst of an argument with a staff member.

"The contract clearly states that once you guys were done using the obstacle course, it'd be open to the public," the man said. "So you need tickets to get in."

"Well, I'm not done using it!" Veronica huffed. "I've hardly even begun using it! I will attempt this challenge however many times it takes for me to complete it!"

"That's great, and I wish you the best of luck, but you'll still need tickets to get in," the man reiterated.

"But I spent all mine already!" Veronica whined. "You don't seriously expect me to go get more, do you?"

"...Yeah, kinda," the man said.

Sunshine squinted to see from a distance.

"Oh my great goofily gosh, I think that is her!" Sunshine clapped. "That's a friend-in-the-making just standing there, waiting for you to search for her!"

"That makes it sound like I'm stalking her," Orson said.

"Aw, stalking is just love that isn't being appreciated yet," Sunshine figured. "Hey, Veronica!"

She ran ahead to meet up. Orson sighed and followed after her.

"Ah, if it isn't two of my fellow Total Drama compatriots," Veronica acknowledged. "Surely you can help this man see reason."

"What? Is he being mean to you?!" Sunshine gasped.

"Now that your show used the course for its purposes, anyone can play as long as they have enough tickets," the man explained again.

"Don't you see how patently unfair that is?" Veronica cried.

"No?" Orson responded.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"! Sunshine gasped. "Our best friend Veronica is being excluded! That just won't do!"

"Hmm, yes, I am the best, aren't I?" Veronica bragged.

"You'd better let her in, bub!" Sunshine told the employee. She turned and whispered to Orson. "Now's your chance to prove your friendship!"

"I just don't see how-" Orson started.

"Prove it!" Sunshine insisted.

Orson sighed.

Orson: "Sunshine's version of friendship doesn't sound like something that comes naturally to me. I'm not sure if that's a her problem or a me problem, but I get the feeling it's a problem regardless."

Veronica: "You know, there was a dark part of my brain that... Oh, I can hardly bear to say it!" She fished the toy dinosaur from her pocket and cradled it gently in her hands. "I couldn't trade you for the world! You are simply too precious! Even if your worth in tickets is enough to allow me a few tries!" She sniffled and held the toy close to her chest.

Jenna returned to the living quarters to find Peter slumped against a chair. The giant stuffed teddy bear remained on top of the table.

"That thing's still here, huh?" Jenna commented.

"Yep," Peter said.

"And you have no idea where Aoi is?" Jenna guessed.

"Nope," Peter said.

"Seriously, do these people feel the need to talk about every little thing that happens?" Jenna questioned as she took a seat. "Like, what is there to talk about at this point? We know nobody's going home, and it's not like we have any control over the Pineapple, whatever that is."

"Let them waste their breath," Peter shrugged. "It'll give smart people like us time to relax. While they wear themselves out, we're resting up for the next time someone actually is getting eliminated."

"Oh, so you think I'm smart, huh?" Jenna teased.

"You're not bothering with the tryhards, are you?" Peter figured. "That already puts you way above the rest of these people."

"The Pineapple's supposed to be some kind of handicap, right?" Jenna mentioned. "What if they give it to you?"

Peter's eyebrow twitched. "Psh. I don't think they can come up with any handicap worse than having Aoi as my partner."

"Touche," Jenna chuckled.

"And hey, we have each other's backs, right?" Peter continued. "We're not going to win any challenges anytime soon, but I think we have to vote people off eventually. I'll make sure no one's eyes are on you or Panic, and you'll do the same for me and Aoi. "

"Don't you have to talk to people in order to do that?" Jenna ribbed.

"I will when it's relevant," Peter claimed. "Right now, it is not."

"Eh, you'd know better than I would," Jenna shrugged. "...Is there really no way Panic and I can win a challenge?"

"They're usually physically demanding, like today's," Peter informed her. "Or at least that's the impression I get. I don't really watch these things, either."

"Interesting," Jenna hummed.

Remi kicked the door open. "Hey, there you guys are!"

"Huh? You're looking for us?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, you two are the only ones I haven't talked to since the challenge ended!" Remi informed them. "Can you believe Sausage Brown pulled that off? What do you think they're going to do with the Pineapple?"

"You already talked to them. You tell me," Peter groaned.

"Well, I caught them separately," Remi recalled. "Pavel said he probably wouldn't use it on my pair, but Brynleigh said she definitely would. So I'm getting some mixed messages here."

"What'd you do to Brynleigh?" Jenna snickered.

"I dunno," Remi admitted. "Maybe she's just pulling my leg. She definitely seems like the type."

"You know, as riveting as this conversation is, I'd better go find Aoi," Peter decided, standing up and excusing himself from the room.

...

"So, like, want to form one of those 'we don't vote each other out' pacts?" Jenna offered.

"Yo, sounds good to me!" Remi agreed.

Jenna: "Huh. You think if I form one of those deals with every pair, I can just make it through the rest of the game without having to worry? I mean, I guess I'd have to break my end of the pact... but then that pair would be voted out, so what are they going to do about it? Maybe Peter's right, there really is no need to overthink this."

Remi: "First Bacon Pink, now Jalapeno Green... combined with Onion Purple, this is starting to sound like one mighty tasty piece of pizza!" He plays air drums. "Things are looking up for the Remis! Or... Remi and Roni... It's a process."

Ichabod, Pavel, Charlie, and Dede met up by the roller coaster.

"What's shakin', bacon?" Dede smiled, shooting finger guns at the three guys as she walked up.

"I never wish to think of bacon again," Ichabod stated. "The amount of grease I must pain-stakingly remove from my sweater…"

"It's all right Ichabod," Charlie patted Ichabod on the back. "We'll figure that out later, for now though, we gotta celebrate our good friend Pavel on a job well done out there."

"Well thanks, man," Pavel smiled slightly. "It was nothing really, you guys did great out there too. I just happened to be able to throw my partner over the line."

"That's a skill in and of itself," Charlie said. "Shows your abilities to think outside the box. That'll be pretty helpful I imagine."

"I guess you're right," Pavel shrugged. "I just made a split second decision, that's all."

"Give yourself more credit than that, it was impressive," Charlie laughed.

"Alright I got ya man," Pavel replied. "I appreciate it."

"Anyway," Ichabod interrupted. "I guess the main cause for discussion now is to figure out what our best option is for this power."

"Probably ought to give it to the team not in our group with the best chance of winning, yeah?" Dede proposed. "Seems simple to me!"

"However, what would the parameters of who is most likely to win be?" Ichabod scratched his chin, deep in thought.

"As the guy with the pineapple, I say we just don't overcomplicate it really," Pavel said. "We could easily pawn it off on the pink team since nobody would really be mad at that, I don't think."

"That Lazarus guy really got off on the wrong foot," Charlie nodded. "It may be wise to not rock the boat right off the bat. Make less enemies and we're safer longer."

"My thoughts exactly, my man," Pavel concurred. "It makes it easy on us, since they can't really fight back.

"However," Ichabod interrupted again. "There is some merit in going after a strong team early on, since there is more room for error if it doesn't work out. If we were to say, give it to red team, there is a chance they couldn't retaliate since there are so many other teams competing."

"It does give us the best chance," Dede nodded in agreement. "And they do seem pretty smart, you know? Pink doesn't really strike me as threatening in the same way, ya dig?"

"I guess I'll have to see what Bryn says," Pavel continued. "She is half of the team here, Her input does matter too."

"Unfortunately, you are right," Ichabod furrowed his brow. "As much as it pains me to say, you will have to get her on board for any and all plans. I take it that you will take this responsibility quite seriously, as it is pertinent that we have as little intra-team turmoil as possible."

"Well duh, of freakin' course I'm takin' it seriously!" Pavel raised his voice slightly. "I'm sure she'll see the reasoning we got going on here."

"Excellent," Ichabod nodded.

"I knew that having you on the our side would be a massive help," Charlie smiled and put his hand on Pavel's shoulder.

Charlie: "Pavel is definitely someone who thrives on feeling like he is helping improve things around him, clearly. I'm not just telling him what he wants to hear, though. I do really think that he is a positive force for our alliance. No matter how I am reading into people, my appreciation of my core four is always gonna be genuine."

Pavel: "I gotta say I am gettin' a bit tired of hearing how awful my partner choice was from the guys. Like, trust me, I gotta talk to her! I know how terrible she is!" He sighed. "But even then, she's still my damn partner, you know? I gotta stick up for her at least a little bit."

Meanwhile, Sawyer and Orson, now reconvened, looked for Brynleigh.

"Ugh, where's this stupid brat," Sawyer grumbled. "I'm already mad she is seemingly making us go to her instead of simply meeting us somewhere. Very unprofessional."

"She's probably just happy about her win," Orson shrugged. "Isn't it natural to just wanna rub it in people's face when you get some sort of power?"

"Guess you got a point there," Sawyer admitted. "Either way, I'm starting to get pissed off."

"I think I see her over there," Orson pointed at a bench, where Brynleigh was sitting.

The two made their way over to her, and noticed she is now wearing an incredibly cheap looking tiara. She sat on the bench, eating candy.

"Oh look, it's some more losers who want to talk to me!" Brynleigh guffawed as the two drew nearer. "Wish to grovel at my feet now?"

Sawyer rubbed her temples, angrily. Orson stepped forward.

"Well, we figured that since we're aligned, we'd want to talk a bit of strategy about the pineapple you guys have," Orson said. "It's your decision, obviously, but we figured it'd be good to talk to the girl herself here."

"Well you're right about one thing," Brynleigh smirked. "It is my decision! Mine alone! Whatever I go with, my stupid partner's sure to do!"

"That's… excellent," Sawyer gritted her teeth together. "So, what's your decision anyway?"

"Well, I was thinking of all sorts of things. Like for instance, the gray team haven't even talked to me yet aside from one of them insulting me!" Brynleigh rattled on. "Then you have the purple team, who are annoying, and I mean REALLY annoying! Like that barf inducing motivational shit on the ramp? Get a room and bone already, losers!"

"Yes, it was very saccharine and annoying," Sawyer agreed. "So, what was your decision?"

"Then I also thought of something else. A certain event that happened in the last challenge…" Brynleigh looked around. "A certain red pizza slice that a certain gorgeous and talented woman found that was stolen from her by a certain couple of bozos. You wouldn't happen to know what I'm talking about, would you?"

Brynleigh looked at Sawyer and raised an eyebrow smugly.

"You cannot be serious, right?" Sawyer looked at Brynleigh, exasperated.

"I dunnnoooo," Brynleigh giggled. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, guess you'll just have to find out at the ceremony!"

"I swear if you put us in, there'll be hell to pay, you hear me?!" Sawyer threatened.

Brynleigh continued to giggle.

"Well, this conversation is probably not gonna go anywhere good, so maybe we just do this some other time?" Orson asked.

"Oh sure, I have plenty of other important things to do anyway!" Brynleigh hopped off the bench and began walking off. "Toodaloo, dorks!"

Sawyer: "So much for being in an alliance with that little twerp! Nobody here knows the first damn thing about listening to authority! Trying to create a successful conglemorate around here is like herding cats!"

Brynleigh: "I actually have no idea who I'm gonna give the pineapple to!" Brynleigh laughed obnoxiously. "I just thought it was really funny to watch her freak out and squirm a little! I bet she's never been in a hot seat like that, so I just thought I'd have a little fun with it!"

Pavel and Brynleigh met up at the plaza shortly before the Pineapple Ceremony.

"I'm sure you've got no end of people trying to sway you, huh?" Pavel figured.

"What else is new?" Brynleigh snickered. "It is funny seeing people get even more desperate for your approval now that you have tangible power that they don't."

"Well, I don't know what deals you've made so far, but I don't wanna use this poorly," Pavel considered. "We're gonna piss someone off, and probably their allies by extension. Who's going to get the least blood on our hands?"

"Pfffft! You think I give a shit about that?!" Brynleigh mocked. "Who cares about blood? If I get blood on my hands, I can just wash them, easy!"

"Yeah, it's real fuckin' easy, isn't it?" Pavel snarled, balling his hands into fists. He shook his head rapidly. "Look, let's compare notes real quick, and see if there's a pair that we can both agree on giving the Pineapple to."

"Geez, if it'll get you to shut up and stop following me!" Brynleigh relented.

Pavel: "I think I can get somewhere with Brynleigh. Lord is she testin' me, but I was able to reach an agreement with her before the ceremony. This is good! I told you that you can turn things around for the better if you just hunker down and apply yourself!" He laughs nervously.

Brynleigh: "It wasn't that big a deal. We both figured out a pair neither of us gave a shit about pretty quickly."

As sunset fell over the Fantastic Feast Faire, the sixteen contestants met up with Chef and Chris in front of the Burger Boy fountain at the plaza.

"Where the hell have you been all- And what is that on your face?" Peter scolded Aoi.

Aoi stood with a catlike design painted on his face. "I'm a kitty."

Peter threw his hands up in defeat.

"Contestants!" Chef called for attention. "This here's the Pineapple Ceremony. The Sausage Brown Pair won today's challenge, so they've earned the right to saddle another pair with the Pineapple. That'll give them a pretty big disadvantage in tomorrow's Invincibility challenge."

"Brynleigh and Pavel, please-" Chris began.

"Step forward n' tell everyone yo' decision!" Chef interrupted.

Brynleigh and Pavel stood before the other contestants.

"We listened to you all, and discussed things between ourselves," Pavel started. "And Brynleigh and I came to an agreement."

"So we're giving the Pineapple to..." Brynleigh grinned.

...

"...Pepperoni Red! Yaaaaaay!" she clapped provocatively.

"Excuse me?!" Sawyer reacted.

"Oh boy," Orson hummed.

"Hey, it had to happen to someone. Don't shoot the messenger," Brynleigh shrugged smugly.

"The messenger?! You're the one who wrote the message!" Sawyer objected.

"I guess this means that our alliance is null and void, then?" Orson mentioned.

"If you couldn't already tell, then that's on you, bub," Brynleigh patronized.

"Alright, no need to kick 'em while they're down," Pavel stepped in.

"But it's fun," Brynleigh argued.

Pavel grabbed Brynleigh by the arm and led her back to the rest of the contestants. Chef stepped forward again.

"N' that's the ceremony," he concluded. "I'll see y'all again tomorrow afternoon for our next Invincibility challenge! Look alive! Dismissed!"

Pavel: "Really, it came down to who I felt was the biggest challenge threat that wasn't already in my alliance. I narrowed it down to Bacon Pink or Pepperoni Red, and Brynleigh wanted to do Red. I think she just wanted to get under their skin, but it sounds like she's been doing that anyway. I didn't even know she had an alliance with them!" He held his head. "Maybe this won't be so easy after all."

Jenna: "Hey, if it means Panic and I have an easier time catching up in the challenge that keeps you from getting voted off altogether, then it's fine by me. I probably still owe Sawyer one for giving me her tickets in the last challenge, but I'm not too worried about it, you know what I mean?"

Alex: "I'll be honest, I half-expected Bacon Pink to get the Pineapple, but I'm glad we didn't. This might be the in I was looking for! If Brynleigh and Pavel don't have any ill will towards me or Lazarus, then they could be solid allies in the end. Especially if they keep winning challenges." She winked.

Orson: "Well, that kind of stinks. I'm sure Sawyer's going to want Sausage Brown out of the game ASAP. I put part of the blame on myself for not being able to mediate between her and Brynleigh better. I'm sure I'll have a lot to discuss with her."

After the contestants left, Chef and Chris stood before the fountain.

"The first Pineapple has been played, n' with it, a message," Chef recounted.

"Pepperoni Red sure isn't happy about this," Chris chuckled. "Who knows? It might just make them want to try even harder in the next challenge."

"Could be, but can they overcome the handicap they got?" Chef wondered. "Who will take control o' the game? Who will fall just short? N' who will be the first established pair to go home? You're gonna hafta find out! Next time! On Total! Drama! Pizza Party!"

Anchovy Gray Pair:

Peter - The Surly Cynic

Aoi - The Complacent Model

Pepperoni Red Pair:

Sawyer - The Businesswoman

Orson - The Ordinary Guy

Onion Purple Pair:

Veronica - The Sheltered Heiress

Remi - The Superfan Drummer

Jalapeno Green Pair:

Jenna - The Last-Second Recruit

Panic - The Disillusioned Punk

Cheese Yellow Pair:

Dede - The Retro Romantic

Sunshine - The Lover of All

Sausage Brown Pair:

Pavel - The Reformed Gangster

Brynleigh - The Brat

Mushroom Blue Pair:

Charlie - The Aspiring Therapist

Ichabod - The Terse Perfectionist

Bacon Pink Pair:

Lazarus - The Offbeat Hippie

Alex - The Friendly Actress

Eliminated:

Flick - The Isekai Survivor

Jacqueline - The Proud Nerd

Kiko - The Mushroom VTuber

Toby - The Optimistic Reporter

A/N:

Asujoll: It may have been a non-elimination episode, but that doesn't mean that the game isn't moving forward! Even if nobody goes home, playing the Pineapple will still make waves, and the contestants have plenty of time to plan around one pair actively choosing to handicap another. Beyond that, we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Max: Another dramatic twist shows itself now! Now if you've seen Endurance, I'm sure you probably saw this one coming. But we figured it'd be a fun twist to incorporate and we gave it a little pizza flair. Not much else to really comment on in this episode, but I hope that you enjoyed reading it and the next one will be coming soon!